Plaintiff, who is currently incarcerated at Pontiac Correctional Center ("Pontiac"), brings this pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.[1] Plaintiff is serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated robbery. His claims arose during his incarceration in the Dixon Springs Impact Incarceration Program ("Dixon Springs"), [2] a satellite facility of Vienna Correctional Center ("Vienna"). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants infringed on his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by issuing him a disciplinary ticket for refusing to exercise while on "med bunk" status (Doc. 1). As a result of the disciplinary ticket, Plaintiff claims that he must now serve his full eight-year sentence (Doc. 1, p. 8). Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages in the amount of ten million dollars against Defendants[3] (Doc. 1, p. 9).

Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that on April 29, 2011, Defendants Vinyard (Dixon Springs' superintendent) and Storey (Dixon Springs' sergeant) separately ordered him to stand and exercise while Plaintiff was on "med bunk" status for a back injury he sustained the previous day in boot camp (Doc. 1, p. 6). Plaintiff informed both defendants that he was on "med bunk" status. Plaintiff was unable to perform the exercises. Defendant Storey issued him a "false" disciplinary ticket for being a "constant disruption to IIP Procedures."

Plaintiff claims that Defendants violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments (Doc. 1, pp. 7-8). He claims that Defendants subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment by exhibiting deliberate indifference to his medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment (Doc. 1, p. 7). He claims that Defendants violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by failing to properly investigate the April 29, 2011, incident (Doc. 1, p. 8). Finally, he claims that Defendants' actions forced him to serve his full eight-year prison term.

Merits Review Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the Court is required to conduct a prompt threshold review of the complaint. The Court must dismiss a complaint, or portion thereof, if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally "frivolous or malicious, " that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a Defendant who is immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). In order to state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiff must allege: 1) that he was deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States; and 2) that the deprivation was visited upon Plaintiff by a person acting under color of state law. Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 640 (1980). To avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim, the complaint must contain a "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a). For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiff's complaint shall be dismissed without prejudice for failure to state a claim against any Defendant.

Eighth Amendment Claim

Plaintiff has failed to state an actionable constitutional claim against Defendants under the Eighth Amendment (Count 1). Prison officials violate the Eighth Amendment's proscription against cruel and unusual punishment when their conduct demonstrates "deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners." Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976). The standard set forth in Estelle includes both an objective and a subjective component. Gutierrez v. Peters, 111 F.3d 1364, 1369 (7th Cir. 1997).

To satisfy the objective component, Plaintiff must demonstrate that he is suffering from an "objectively, sufficiently serious" medical condition. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994) (internal quotations omitted); see also Henderson v. Sheahan, 196 F.3d 839, 845 (7th Cir. 1999). As the Seventh Circuit has made clear, "[a] serious' medical need is one that has been diagnosed by a physician as mandating treatment or one that is so obvious that even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention." Gutierrez, 111 F.3d at 1371.

Once Plaintiff satisfies the objective component of this test, he must still satisfy the subjective prong of this inquiry by demonstrating that Defendants displayed deliberate indifference to his medical condition. Deliberate indifference is equivalent to reckless or intentional conduct. Jackson v. Illinois Medi-Car, Inc., 300 F.3d 760, 765 (7th Cir. 2002). At a minimum it requires that a prison official "be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists" and that the prison official actually drew the inference. Brennan, 511 U.S. at 837.

Even if the Court assumes[4] that Plaintiff's medical condition is serious, Plaintiff still fails to state a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim against Defendants. Plaintiff's complaint does not suggest that any Defendant displayed deliberate indifference to his medical condition. The only allegations related to Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim pertain to the actions of Defendants Vinyard and Storey. He alleges that these Defendants "instructed" him to stand and exercise while he was on "med bunk" status (Doc. 1, p. 6). Plaintiff does not allege that either Defendant knew about his back injury or his "med bunk" status prior to giving the instruction. He does not allege that he actually exercised, or even attempted to exercise. He does not allege that he was injured in the process, or that his back injury was exacerbated. Plaintiff only asserts that he was "unable to do the exercises requested of him" (Doc. 1, ...

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